Exhibit hearkens back to epic 1888 storm and rescues led by Hull’s Joshua James

One hundred and twenty-five years ago this week, legendary lifesaver Joshua James of Hull and his men rescued 29 sailors from five shipwrecks in a 36-hour period. The epic event is the subject of the newest exhibit at the Hull Lifesaving Museum.

Joshua James and his lifesaving heroics off the shores of Hull are the stuff of legend, but the event that put James into headlines happened 125 years ago this week.

A massive storm packing gale-force winds and blinding snow hit the New England coastline on Nov. 25, 1888, as James – later known as the “grandfather of the U.S. Coast Guard” – kept a sharp eye from Telegraph Hill on the schooners unlucky enough to be caught at sea off the rocky shoals of Hull.

Over a 36-hour period, he and his men rescued 29 sailors from five shipwrecks.

“It’s absolutely unbelievable what they did,” said Victoria Stevens, the museum curator.

James was 62 years old at the time and the head of a mostly volunteer group of surfmen in the U.S. Life-Saving Service, a precursor to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The exhibit will feature some 40 items that are part of the museum’s permanent collection, including some of James’ rarely seen belongings.

“We’ll have James’ coat, which we don’t exhibit often because it’s very fragile,” Stevens said.

It’s the coat that James wore when he got married. Ten medals awarded for the heroic rescues will also be displayed.

Stevens is hoping visitors soak up the narrative of what it meant to brave this fierce late-November storm in a wooden lifeboat at night.

“A lot of people have heard of Joshua James but don’t know the details of the rescues,” she said.

As James and his crew set off to save sailors from the second schooner that ran aground, the Gertrude Abbott, night had already fallen. Hull residents gathered at Souther’s Hill and helped build a bonfire, which aided the rescuers.

Crashing waves repeatedly swamped the lifeboat as it got nearer the ship. Eight sailors jumped into the lifeboat. Getting back to shore was the hardest part, as the boat was smashed into rocks and rolled under the crashing waves.

But they made it ashore into the arms of those waiting. Before the storm was over, James and his crew would row out to three more ships.

The exhibit is timely, especially to residents of coastal towns who have seen some frightening storms in recent years, Stevens said.

“There’s a real appreciation of this,” she said. “(Hurricane) Sandy made people more aware of sea-level rise and of how fragile we are.”